Tempo Get First Franchise Win Over Storm
Toronto beat Seattle 86-73 to earn their first win.
(Toronto, Canada) - The Toronto Tempo (1-1) earned their first win in franchise history after holding on to defeat the Seattle Storm (1-2) by a final score of 86-73. Toronto outlasted Seattle in a back-and-forth contest. It was a close game throughout. The Tempo didn’t stretch their lead to double-digits until there were four minutes left in the game. The three-point shooting of Marina Mabrey helped Toronto separate and secure the win.
Seattle was led by Center Dominique Malonga, who finished with 21 points (9-19 FG) and seven rebounds. Stefanie Dolson had her best game in a Seattle uniform. She finished with 16 points on 6-8 FG, including 2-3 FG from beyond the arc. Dolson also had a pair of blocks on the defensive end. Jade Melbourne was the only other Storm player to score in double figures. Melbourne finished with 14 points, six assists, and three steals.
They outshot the Tempo 47% (27-58 FG) to 44% (30-69 FG), but Seattle wasn’t as sharp from beyond the arc. Toronto outscored them there 38% (11-29 FG) to 35% (7-20 FG). Seattle lost most of the statistical battle, but did have a 38-32 advantage with points in the paint.
It was the Storm’s turnovers that doomed them in this game. They committed a season-high 19 turnovers compared to just 12 for the Tempo. Toronto outscored Seattle 26-14 in points off turnovers.
Toronto Tempo
Marina Mabrey led the way with 26 points in 29 minutes of action. She finished 9-20 FG from the floor, but made 6-11 FG from long distance. Mabrey scored 16 of her game-high 26 points in the second half, where the Tempo outscored Seattle 42-28.
Former Storm guard, Brittney Sykes, finished with 18 points. It wasn’t her most efficient game. She shot 5-14 FG, but she got to the free throw line more than any other player and made 8-9 FT. Sykes also had a game-high eight rebounds and six assists.
Maria Conde and Kiki Rice were the other two Toronto players to score in double figures. Conde scored 16 points, including shooting 50% (4-8 FG) from three-point range. She scored 10 of her 16 points in the first half. Rookie Kiki Rice had a very nice game off the bench for the Tempo. She finished with 12 points on 5-9 FG and a couple of rebounds.
Toronto out-rebounded Seattle 33-28. They had a 9-3 advantage in offensive rebounds. They dominated in fast break points (17-2). The Tempo had the edge in assists (21-18), steals (11-6), and bench points (30-23).
Game Breakdown
Dominique Malonga knocked down a corner three from Flau’jae Johnson for the game’s first basket. Nyara Sabally scored in the low post. Malonga scored again on the roll to the rim. Marina Mabrey got to the rim for two. Stefanie Dolson hit a trailing three-pointer. The Tempo recovered a blocked shot, and Teonni Key laid it in. Mabrey connected on a three. Malonga and Dolson added four more points. The Tempo took the lead at 13-12 after points from Sabally and Julie Allemand. Flau’jae Johnson scored her first points on a dribble pull-up. The Tempo regained the lead on a pair of Mabrey free throws.
Malonga continued to score down low, but Maria Conde drilled another shot from beyond the arc. Jade Melbourne got to the rim for two. Conde connected on another three-pointer as both offenses continued to go back and forth. Dolson tied the game on a pair of free throws. Kiki Rice finished strong at the rim. Melbourne had a bad pass that left Lexie Brown on the wrong end of a two-on-one fast break that resulted in an AND1. Brown then had a turnover, and Conde scored again for the 7-0 Tempo run. Jade was fouled and hit both foul shots to cut the Storm’s deficit to five. At the end of the first period, the Tempo led 27-22.
Zia Cooke got on the board to begin the second quarter with a pull-up in the lane. Both teams turned the ball over in the open court, trying to get out in transition. Kiki Rice got to the rim again. Dolson hit another three at the top of the arch. Another score by Rice was countered by a Zia Cooke triple. Both teams continued to knock down threes as Mabrey and Malonga hit one for each team.
Brittney Sykes made her presence known. She was able to get to the foul line. Score in the paint, and force turnovers on the defensive end. Flau’jae had a nice defensive stop on Sykes that led to Melbourne getting downhill to the rim for the AND1. That cut the Tempo’s lead down to one at 39-38. That forced Coach Sandy Brondello to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, Sykes got two shot attempts and made the second.
Conde and Melbourne exchanged three-pointers. Stef Dolson got a block that led to a two-on-one fast break with her and Malonga that eventually led to two points for Dom. Seattle led 45-44 after outscoring the Tempo 23-17 in the second quarter. Malonga led all scorers in the first half with 14 points.
Stef Dolson scored to begin the third period, but Brittney Sykes scored an AND1 to tie the game at 47-47. Natisha Hiedeman hit a three-pointer. Sykes scored five more points in a row. Then Mabrey added two more to put the Tempo ahead 53-50.
Malonga cut the deficit to one briefly, but the Tempo hit back-to-back three-pointers to extend Toronto’s lead to seven at 59-52. Grace VanSlooten was fouled and made both free throws, but Mabrey drilled another 3-PT shot. Seattle was swapping twos for threes (Toronto), which allowed the Tempo to increase their lead to nine. Dom and Jade scored in the paint. The Tempo outscored the Storm 23-17 in the third period to regain their five-point lead (67-62) through 30 minutes.
Flau’jae Johnson got to the line for two. Brittney Sykes scored from the line and the midrange. Zia Cooke used an athletic drive to two. Before the Storm could take back the momentum, Rice knocked down a corner three. Mabrey and Melbourne swapped baskets in the paint.
Seattle cut the Tempo’s lead to four, but Mabrey immediately answered with back-to-back three-pointers to put Toronto up 81-71 with 04:00 left in the fourth quarter. It was academic from there. Toronto ended the game on a 5-2 run to win their first game in franchise history by a final score of 86-73.
Final Box Score
Up Next
The Storm (1-2) will finish up their road trip with a game on Sunday (5/17) against the Indiana Fever (0-1) at 3:00 PM. The schedule gets slightly easier after that with back-to-back home games against the Connecticut Sun (0-3).
Notes:
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Oof, some of those TOs were just reckless forced passes.
That was a pretty disappointing game for the Storm. We played the Tempo even in the first half and kept shooting ourselves in the foot in the second half. We really fizzled in the 4th quarter w just 11 points. It was nice to see Dom rebound w 21 points. I was hoping that she'd have a lot more than 7 rebounds because we needed them badly. Dom and Stef were our leading 3-point shooters each making 2 of 3, but we were no match for their downtown shooters, especially Mabry.
After her excellent showing last game, Lexie Brown disappeared again scoring 0 points. I'm concerned about Jordan Horston not contributing hardly anything this year. I know she's on a minutes restriction but she's been nothing like her old self so far. It was the first game that Flaújae really didn't make any noise. We missed her scoring. Jade was her typical warrior self. You gotta love that. I don't know why Mack didn't play more. Grace got some minutes but neither one of them scored or contributed much this game. Hopefully they'll turn up the heat against the Fever. God knows we'll need it.